Customer Reviews

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's but I Waaannt It!

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

The first time I read this book was out loud to my son (usually I read them to myself first) and I stopped short as soon as I realized that the mother bought the screeching child all of the toys to pacify him! I thought, What kind of message is this? Even though they end up giving the new toys away at the end (only the new toys mind you), the book didn't redeem itself in my eyes. In my view, immediate gratification of a child's selfish wishes and dealing with the consequences later is not a way to handle a dispute with a four year old.

I chose to go back and re-read this book to my child saying that Sam's mommy shouldn't have bought all of the toys Sam wanted and that she was a silly, pretend mommy who only lives in a book, because no REAL mommy would do that. I feel like one silly Mommy myself for buying a children's book without reading it first but I thought that the famous Dr S would have a good message to tell. I was wrong.

If you are a parent who indulges your child's each and every whim, well then, go ahead and buy this book for them too because you would be the type of person who might enjoy it.

Dr. Laura's newest children's book sends a terribly mixed message to children and parents. When Sammy's mother takes him shopping for a birthday present for another child, he throws a temper tantrum in the store because he wants everything he sees. Instead of taking him out of the store, his mother goes ahead and actually buys all the toys for him, hoping that he will come to the conclusion that having everything won't make him happy after all. While Sammy may realize that things don't make him happy, he also has found a way to get what he wants. I can't help but wonder which lesson the child hearing this story will actually come away with.

I think Dr. Laura's book has a good message, but she has delivered it in an unfortunate way. The books is about a child who cries and cries for certain items, and the parent gives in a buys them for the child--the message being "If you have these items, does it satisfy you." That is a fine message. However, I think Dr. Laura's writing is just a bit sloppy because that message gets kind of lost in all the crying and begging. This isn't great writing for children in the end; it's a good concept, poorly executed. The illustrations are nice, though. I decided to get rid of my copy of the book finally; the book is just too problematical. I wouldn't recommend that parents rely on it as a way of teaching your children this message, I think you can do better with real-life scenarios or hunting for better writers.

My children were attracted to the illustration on the cover, where Sammy is throwing a tantrum as his parents stand over him, and asked me to read the book to them. It was a situation they could relate to: Sammy is shopping with his mom at the toy store, because they have to buy a present for his cousin. Sammy wants toys for himself and throws a tantrum. When his mom goes along with his demands and buys him every stuffed toy he pointed to, my kids laughed. They knew I'd never go along with that kind of behavior, so they thought that the book was supposed to be a joke.

Later that night, Sammy goes to bed with his new hoarde of plush toys, and awakens because he can barely fit into his bed. Then he's upset because he can't find his old favorite stuffy, Mr. Cat. My son, who was 2 at the time, asked in disgust, "Why doesn't he throw some toys out his bed?" Instead, Sammy agrees to donate all the new toys, the ones he got as a result of his tantrum, to a childrens' shelter. Both my children found this ending unconvincing, each coming up with alternate suggestions for how Sammy should have solved the problem. "He could put some of the toys in his closet." "He could put them on the shelf and sleep with just a few of them." "If he loves the cat best, then he should make sure it's on his pillow." "Why did his mom buy him all the toys when he was yelling in the store?"

My kids just love books, and if this one caused them so much annoyance I can safely say you should skip it. While they liked the illustrations, I found them cloying (I guess their opinion is more important than mine, as they were 2 and 4 at the time). And they felt let down at the end because they thought it would be a "silly" book, since the mom sure acted silly in buying him all those toys. Instead they got a heavy-handed lecture about how things don't make you feel good, but people do. (Oh? If that's true, then why did Sammy need his old stuffed toy to feel secure.) My daughter couldn't understand why Sammy got mad at the new toys, because in her experience, new toys in the bed are good.

While I'm all in favor of teaching children that materialism and consumerism are not good character traits, this book is not the way to do so. In fact, when this book was originally released, there was a PRODUCT TIE-IN with a toy Mr. Cat stuffy, completely obliterating the point of the story!

Parents and grandparents, do not buy this book, do not get it from the library, and do not borrow it from your friend. It's awful, and I wish I could give it no stars instead of one.

Initial excitement over this book brought disappointment when I saw the Mother's solution included buying every toy the kid whined for. I'm afraid the real message of the story won't be absorbed by young children. Glad I left this one on the shelf.

The moral of the story: get a good illustrator to illustrate a book whose story is weak at best and try to make some money off of the author's celebrity. Bleagh. Laura Schlessinger's superficial story goes like this: baby cries and whines for different cool new things ("I Want It"), and the parent relents and buys them all. The point is *supposed* to be, Gosh, if you have everything you ask for, do you feel fulfilled? But, geez, Dr. Laura, way to write a story that misses your own point. I read this aloud to my six-year-old. She didn't get it--she though the point was, See, you should just buy me everything I want. OK, so maybe my kid may not be the smartest kid (I like to think she is, though), but you better hope your kid has graduate-level critical thinking skills to understand what Dr. Laura's message is. I was utterly disappointed and troubled!

I have to agree that the lesson that comes through is "If you whine enough, you'll get it all." Perhaps with a slightly older target group the more profound message of "Having *stuff* is not really important" would come through (there are some adults this would benefit). The text and illustrations are prepared for the very young, the underlying message is appropriate for an older group.

I think that a lot of people are missing the point of this story. The POINT is that yes he does throw a fit and get all the stuffed animals. HOWEVER he finds that they don't make him as happy as the cat that he has and that MANY THINGS DO NOT BRING HAPPINESS! Sammy (the son) should have listened to mom in the beginning and not thrown a fit. In the end throwing the fit and getting what he wanted (or what he thought he wanted), just made him more miserable.

I was shocked when I actually read the book. In there, the fitful child actually GETS all the toys he fussed about in the store. The ending is idyllic. That a child, who is obviously prone to "I want" fits in a store, would somehow awaken to his own folly. In the middle of the night no less, after several times waking up. It is pure fiction. If you are buying this book to help stop your child of the "I wants", seek an alternate route.

The fundamental message most children will take away from this book is that if you whine and whine and whine you'll get what you want. The parent in this story does this to solve the child's whining for objects. The abstract morality about "things cannot bring you true happiness" will be totally lost on your child and, in short, the message will backfire. Save your money on this title and explore better-thought-through plots in other children's books.